Gen. Lewis Cass was a native of Exeter, New Hampshire. His father
fought in the War of the Revolution. Lewis was educated in Exeter
Academy and was early schooled in the principles and traditions of New
England. In early life his parents moved with him to Marietta, Ohio,
where he grew up and became a lawyer, and a member of the Ohio
Legislature. President Jefferson appointed him United States marshal for
the district of Ohio, in 1807, a position he held until he sough service
in the War of 1812. In 1813 he was made a brigadier-general under
Harrison, and at the close of the war the qualities he had displayed
marked him out as the best choice for governor of Michigan territory.

From 1813 to 1831, when he became a member of President Jackson's
cabinet, Cass devoted his great energies to promoting the settlement of
Michigan. According to one historian: "The number of white
inhabitants of the territory when Cass became governor of it, was
scarcely six thousand. No land had been sold by the United States and
the interior was a vast wilderness, the above, it was estimated, of
forty thousand savages. Settlers could not obtain sure titles to their
locations. No surveys had been made. No roads had been opened inland.
The savages were relentless in their hostility to the whites. Under
these circumstances, Cass assumed the responsibilities of governor and ex-officio
superintendent of Indian affairs. For eighteen years his management
of Indian affairs was governed by remarkable wisdom and prudence. He
negotiated twenty-two distinct treaties, securing the cession to the
United States by the various tribes of the immense regions of the
Northwest, instituted surveys, constructed roads, established military
works, built light-houses, organized counties and townships, and, in
short, created and set in motion all the machinery of civilized
government."

Professor McLaughlin writes, in his "Life of Lewis Cass":
"The great factor of his successful administration was honesty. But
fair, honorable dealings with the Indians was a rare virtue, and in this
he never faltered. He was wont to say in after years that he never broke
his word to an Indian and never expected to find that the red man had
broken his. Every exertion was made to have the funds and the allowances
ready on the day they had been promised. Promptness and boldness in
action, a firm self-reliance, a presumption that the power of the United
States was mighty and would be obeyed, appealed to the Indian sense of
awe and reverence. The respect, and even affection, which the Indian had
for the Great Father at Detroit, was often manifest, and once felt, was
not forgotten. Twelve years after his appointment as governor, while on
a trip through southern Wisconsin and Minnesota, with gentle reproof he
took from the necks of Indian chieftains their British medals, and
placed in their stead a miniature of their great and mighty 'Father at
Washington'." In concluding, professor McLaughlin says: "The
name of Lewis Cass will not be written in the future with those of the
few men whose influence is everywhere discernible, and who perpetuate
themselves in institutions and in national tendencies. He was not a
Washington, nor a Lincoln, nor a John Quincy Adams. But he was a great
American statesman, building up and Americanizing an important section
of his country, struggling in places of trust for the recognition of
American dignity and for the development of generous nationalism. With
the great slavery contest his name is inseparably connected. He stood
with Webster and Clay for union, for conciliation, for the constitution
as it seemed to be established. He was one of those men who broad love
of country and pride in her greatness, however exaggerated, however
absurd it may seem in these days of cynical self-restraint, lifted her
form colonialism to national dignity and imbued the people with a sense
of their power."

No greater testimony could be given of the merits of Lewis Cass then
tht, after almost a century of the test of time, the people of Michigan
should erect in honor of his work, and in tribute tot he man, a memorial
such as was recently placed to his memory on Mackinac island. On this
beautiful column of bronze, accompanying a life-like portrait of Cass,
is this inscription:

Cass Cliff
Named by the
Michigan Historical Commission
And
Mackinac Island State Park Commission
In honor of
LEWIS CASS
Teacher, lawyer, explorer,
Soldier, diplomat, statesman
Born, October 9th, 1782
Died, June 17th, 1866.
Appointed by President Thomas Jefferson

U. S. Marshal for the District of Ohio, 1807-1811.
Brigadier-General, 1813.
Governor of Michigan Territory, 1813-1831.
Secretary of War in President
Andrew Jackson's Cabinet, 1831-1836.
Minister to France, 1836-1842.
United States Senator from Michigan,. 1845-1848,
1849-1857.
Secretary of State, 1857-1860.

He explored the country from the Great
Lakes to the Mississippi River and
Negotiated with the Indian Tribes Just
Treaties. His fair and generous treatment
Accorded to the Indians of the Northwest
Secured to the Peninsular State its
Peaceful settlement and continued prosperity.

Erected 1915 by
The Citizens of Michigan
In grateful appreciation of
His distinguished and patriotic services
To his Country and State.

It would be hard to exaggerate the greatness of the task which
confronted Cass at the beginning of his long career as governor of
Michigan territory. For at least two years after the close of the War of
1812, Michigan was prostrate from its effects. The French on the River
Raisin were destitute. Near Detroit the settlers were almost as badly
off. Cass worked with untiring vigilance to relieve their distress,
calling in the national aid. Added to his other troubles, the Indians
pillaged and murdered where force was not present to restrain them.

One of his greatest problems was to convert the French settlements,
destitute, defenseless, foreign and slow, into prosperous and
progressive American communities. Their material distress was first
attended to. In 1815 Cass secured on thousand five hundred dollars from
the government to distribute among them, which he spent mainly in flour
for the River Raisin settlers. But he saw clearly the need of American
enterprise and skill to mix with these colonists, from which they might
learn something of that providence and energy needed to push back the
frontier which hemmed the French in to the river banks. To attract
Eastern settlers, lands must be surveyed and offered for sale on easy
terms; and here he was hampered by no small difficulty.

In 1812 Congress had provided that two million acres of government
lands should be surveyed in Michigan, to be set apart as bounty lands
for the soldiers of the war. On an alleged examination, the surveyors
reported that there were scarcely any lands in Michigan fit for
cultivation. According to the official report of Edward Tiffin,
surveyor-general for the Northwest:

"The country on the Indiana boundary line from the mouth of the
Great Auglaize river, and running thence north for about fifty miles, is
(with some few exceptions) low, wet lands, with a very thick growth of
underbrush, intermixed with very bad marshes, but generally very heavily
timbered with beech, cottonwood, oak, etc.: thence continuing north, and
extending from the Indian boundary eastward, the number and extent of
the swamps increase, with the addition of numbers of lakes, from twenty
chains to two and three miles across.

"many of the lakes have extensive margins, sometimes thickly
covered with a species of pine called 'Tamarack,' and in other places
covered with a coarse, high grass, and uniformly covered from six inches
to three feet (and more at times) with water. The margins of these lakes
are not the only places where swamps are found, for they are
interspersed throughout the whole country, and filled with water, as
above stated, and varying in extent.

"The intermediate space between these swamps and lakes--which is
probably neat one-half of the country--is, with very few exceptions, a
poor, barren, sandy land, on which scarcely any vegetation grows, except
very small scrubby oaks.

"In many places that part which may be called dry land is
composed of little, short hand-sills, forming a kind of deep basin, the
bottoms of many of which are composed of marsh similar tot he above
described. The streams are generally narrow and very deep compared with
their width, the shores and bottoms of which are (with very few
exceptions) swampy beyond description; and it is with the utmost
difficulty tht a place can be found over which horses can be conveyed in
safety.

"A circumstance peculiar to that country is exhibited in many of
the marshes, by their being thinly covered with a sward of grass, by
walking on which evinces the existence of water, or a very thin mud,
immediately under their covering, which sink from six to eighteen inches
under the pressure of the foot at every step, and at the same time rises
before and behind the person passing over it. The margins of many of the
lakes and stream are in a similar condition and in many places are
literally afloat. On approaching the eastern part of the military lands,
towards the private claims on the straits and lake, the country does not
contain so many swamps and lakes, but the extreme sterility and
barrenness of the soil continue the same.

"Taking the country altogether, so far as has been explored, and
to all appearances, together with information received concerning the
balance, if is so bad there would not be more than one acre out of a
hundred, if there would be one out of a thousand, that would in any case
admit of cultivation."

Of course, congress had no reason to believe that the conditions were
other than as reported. In 1816 a new law was passed, which provided for
locating the two million acres of bounty lands partly in Illinois and
partly in Missouri. This, apparently, was an official condemnation of
Michigan lands by the national government, an action which became widely
known in the East, through the newspapers. The common belief grew up
that the interior of Michigan was a vast swamp that might well be
abandoned to fur-bearing animals and the trappers and hunters. School
geographies based on Tiffin's report contained maps of Michigan with
"Interminable Swamps" printed across the interior of Michigan
territory. The effect was to deter many from seeking homes in Michigan
who under a more favorable report would have filled up the country
rapidly. Instead of Michigan, the rival state of Illinois and the lands
south of Michigan received the first great immigrations from the Eastern
states.

Besides this gross ignorance of Michigan lands in the East, die to
misrepresentation, Cass had to contend with the natural distrust and
dread of the Indians, who had to lately been allies of the British, and
stories of whose horrible atrocities, with no lack of fanciful coloring,
had reached Eastern ears. Not only was the presence of the Indians a
deterrent to immigration and disquieting tot he settles, but they still
held title to most of the Michigan lands. To deal with this problem,
Cass was made superintendent of Indian affairs for the Northwest, and
gave early attention to extinguishing the Indian titles, as a first step
to the removal of the Indians from the Great Lakes region. A grand
council of the Chippewas and Ottawas was held in 1819 at the site of
Saginaw, where a treaty was signed, by which one hundred and fourteen
chiefs and principal sachems ceded to the Untied States a tract of
country estimated to include about six million acres. According to the
words of the treaty, the boundaries were as follows:

"Beginning at a point in the present Indian boundary line
(identical with the principal meridian of Michigan), which runs due
north from the mouth of the Great Auglaize river, six miles south of the
place where the base line, so-called, intersects the same; thence west
sixty miles; thence in a direct line tot he head of the thunder Bay
river; thence down the same, following the course thereof, tot he mouth,
thence northeast tot he boundary line between the United States and the
British province of Upper Canada; thence with the same to the line
established by the treaty of Detroit, in the year 1807; and thence with
the said line to the place of beginnings."

This treaty is known as the Treaty of Saginaw. In 1821 Governor Cass
and Hon. Solomon Sibley, who was associated with him as United States
Indian Commissioner, concluded a treaty with the Ojibways, Ottawas, and
Pottawatomies on the site of Chicago, which ash since been known as the
Treaty of Chicago. The boundaries of the lands ceded by this treaty
included between seven and eight thousand square miles in southwestern
Michigan.

The year before a cession of land was secured at Sault Ste. Marie.
Cass was on his way to explore the northern and western portions of the
territory, and with him was a considerable party, including Henry R.
Schoolcraft, as geologist. He had determined to into the condition of
the Indians; to explain to them that their visits to the British in
Canada for presents must be discontinued, and, among other things, to
investigate the copper region and make himself familiar with the facts
concerning the fur trade. An incident occurred in the council at the
Sault that was thoroughly characteristic of the personal coolness and
courage of Governor Cass in his dealing with the Indians. In a
disagreement that arose, the Indians became threatening. At the close of
an animated discussion, one of the chiefs a brigadier in the British
service, drew his war lance and struck it furiously in the ground. He
kicked away the American presents and in that spirit the council was
dispersed. In a few moments the British flag was flying over the Indian
camp. Cass at once ordered his men under arms. Proceeding to the lodge
of the chief who had raised the flag, he took it down, telling him that
no such insult could be permitted on American soil He said he was the
Indians' friend, but that the flag was a symbol of national power, and
that only the American flag could float above the soil of his and their
country. If they attempted to raise any other "the United States
would set a strong foot upon their necks and crush them to the
earth." The boldness of the governor had the intended effect; soon
after this, a treaty of cession was peaceably concluded. The expedition
continued along the south shore of Lake Superior, whence they crossed
southward to the Mississippi river and thence up the Wisconsin to Green
bay. The return to Detroit was made by way of Chicago and the Indian
trail through southern Michigan, thus giving to men close to the
national government a first-hand knowledge of the country misrepresented
by the early surveyors.

Cass now pushed forward the new surveys, which he had already induced
the government to undertake as early as 1816. By 1818 they had
progressed so far that a land office was established at Detroit and
sales were begun. In 1820 the best of Michigan's lands then on sale
could be bought for one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, and the
way was open for any prudent and industrious man to make a moderate home
for his family. Immigration gradually scattered settlers through the
Michigan forests. The plow began the task of achieving the victories of
peace. the settlers found instead of "innumerable swamps," a
fertile, dry and undulating soil, clothed with richest verdure, crossed
by clear and rapid streams and studded with lake abounding with fish. In
the clearings of the forest, the cosy log hut of the pioneer soon curled
its smoke to the heavens from the banks of lake and stream, where
children played and men and women toiled, and rested after toil; and
among the stumps and felled trunks of the trees, little patches of new
wheat basked in the sun like little green islands amid the vast and
magnificent ocean of wilderness.

History of Genesee
County, Michigan, Her People, Industries and Institutions
by Edwin O. Wood, LL.D, President Michigan Historical Commission, 1916